Fancy Food Show

Five hours at one day of the Fancy Food Show is almost like crashing a wedding for a few minutes and then leaving. I wish I had gone for two days. With that said, it was FAB to be back at the show, as last year, I was about two weeks from delivering baby #2 and the thought of the hugeness of the Javits Center and not being able to eat all of the blue cheese and foie gras I wanted to, made me decide to sit 2009 out.
Since I do not have the perk of my old job, hubby could not tag along as the "help." I think he has gotten over it. Justin from www.jdfoods.net was kind enough to say he would have provided a pass for hubby. Hubby found their bacon salt in 2008 and it was featured in my Sara Moulton segment. Those guys are adorable and have been ahead of the bacon curve.
The Fancy Food Show is one of the few places on earth you can go from eating salted caramel soft serve ice cream to lentil chips to the super tasty pickles, etc from www.rickspicksnyc.com to drinking hot chocolate from a slew of booths to Sea Buckthorn tea from the lovely folks at www.republicoftea.com to tasting the latest chuntneys, hot sauces, etc etc etc. It really is so cool to see booth after booth of food and drinks. A kid in a candy store feeling!
The first time I went a few years ago, I literally ate my way through the show. Each year, I became more judicious of eating and yesterday, I was so good, that I actually left hungry. Pathetic, right?
The show is open to the media and those in the food and restaurant business. It is a place to show off what is new and each year there are different trends. Past trends include green tea, the acai berry, pomegranates and this year, gluten free was big. It was funny to see some items as GF when they never had any gluten to begin with.
My fave booth is www.dartagnan.com. They are excellent purveyors of meats. Everything from hot dogs to serrano ham to my fave foie gras. Ariane D'Aguin is a lovely French woman, who is the most gracious host and is passionate about her products. Stopping by is like being in the countryside in France, albeit for just a few moments of hellos and hugs and tasting of the most delicious food I have come to enjoy.
I have more to say, but now I am hungry from talking about food and I am off to find a snack.